What Not to WiiWare - 101-in-1 Explosive Megamix

The past few weeks have been pretty good on the WiiWare front. Sure, things haven't been perfect, but with stellar titles like MotoHeroz and escapeVektor: Chapter 1 giving you a reason to shell out the cash for some Wii Points, it's amazing how Nintendo's download shop has been making a little buzz with worthwhile gaming experiences. For the most part, things have been declining in terms of quantity, and WiiWare has been getting mostly a single new game each week. This week's digital offering is 101-in-1 Explosive Megamix. Does this mini-game collection justify its $7 price tag?

101-in-1 Explosive Megamix

When I first got my Wii in 2006, mini-game collections really appealed to me. Games like Rayman Raving Rabbids and WarioWare: Smooth Moves provided me with hours of fun when I played them alone or with others. As developers continued making party games for the Wii, however, my interest in the genre began to fizzle out. That said, if I find a solid collection of mini-games, I'll usually be more than willing to check it out as long as it provides a worthwhile experience. When I saw that this week's WiiWare entry was called 101-in-1 Explosive Megamix, I knew I was in store for some rubbish.

You'd think that a digital pile of 101 mini-games would at least have a few winners, but sadly, this isn't the case. Every single one of the mini-games included in this horrid collection is boring and uninspired. Whether you're trying to shoot a basketball through a hoop, engaging in some air hockey, guiding a free falling dude through rings in the sky, or making a frog catch flies with its tongue, there's really nothing here that will keep you entertained at all.

To make matters worse, none of the mini-games offer multiplayer functionality. Not that the mini-games would be too much better when played with another individual. After all, the mechanics are mind-numbingly dull and the motion controls aren't all that impressive. Still, some air hockey with a buddy wouldn't hurt. It wouldn't make this package of crappy mini-games all that better, but it wouldn't hurt.

Of course, you have to have an underwhelming presentation for such an underwhelming game, and the graphics and sound in 101-in-1 Explosive Megamix certainly deliver the goods (or bads) in that department. Obviously, you can't really expect too much technical power from a WiiWare game, but this horrid mini-game compilation doesn't even have a pleasing art style. And then there's the music, which is boring and monotonous to the point of exhaustion.

Simply put, 101-in-1 Explosive Megamix looks bad, sounds bad, and plays bad. There's nothing here to make the $7 investment worthwhile, so if you come across this game during a random WiiWare search, don't bother. It's a shame that after a plentiful helping of great WiiWare games we have to get garbage like this. Save your money and hope that something better drops next week.

Skip it!

David Sanchez
David Sanchez is the most honest man on the internet. You can trust him because he speaks in the third person.